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In 1964 Bell System produced a film about the New York World’s Fair, which highlights the history and future of communications. Of course, the future of communications would not be complete without the eternal promise of picturephone. A clip of the film, including a look at the Bell System ride, appears below. You can watch…
This Antique D2 project is a homemade, one-of-a-kind R2-D2, if R2 was made in an era when barrels were used as bodies for helper robots. Which is to say in an era that never existed, but I suppose that’s what makes it fun, right? The detail on the model is really what makes this project…
While James and Marguerite Driessen’s patent covers a sort of vaguely broad concept—gift cards for pre-defined items that you buy at a B&M store but use online—I kind of feel for them, given that Apple apparently dropped iTunes custom cards in the US (while continuing to offer them in the UK) to get around licensing…
The Popcorn Hour is a surprisingly robust little network media streamer that does pretty much everything you could want a set-top box to do. In addition to streaming from your home network, attached USB storage or the internet, you can set it up to download torrents directly to an attached hard drive. It looks like…
Make’s writer and laser master Phil Torrone has etched a monkey on his MacBook Air, a process which he says worked as well as with the other MacBooks after leveling it so the surface was perpendicular to the ray. Whatever. I’m like, monkeys. Cool. Ook ook. [Make]
As any six-year-old can tell you, there ain’t nothing funnier than toilet humor. This toilet lighter is sure to impress your nephew, if not any women your own age, with its hilarious combo of a lighter and a tiny toilet. It might be an awkward shape that won’t fit well in your pocket, but it’s…
This landline phone with an adorable unknown animal on it seems perfect for the phone-calling tyke in your life, but what’s on the inside is truly scary. Its guts contain a voice-changing module with high- or low-pitch options, allowing you to choose between your inner Barry White and your inner Jared Wiley. Or your, you…
This gadget from Polar is a multifunction card reader that distinguishes itself from all the others with a dust-proof sliding lid and a built-in clock (wow!) and thermometer. It is an analog thermometer, but what the heck: everything else is digital nowadays, so its nice to see some cheapo mashup analogness. The reader supports SD,…
A rather delicious little titbit is doing the rounds that Microsoft is going to drop its 360 HD-DVD player to $50. According to Ars Technica’s Microsoft mole—they say he’s always on the button with news—the add-on player’s price was due to drop yesterday, February 21. No confirmation as yet, but we’ll keep our eyes peeled.…
For those who are about to knit, we salute you—especially if you make woolly hat ‘n’ gas mask combos for your friends to wear on their bike ride to work. Not sure whether it would work in the event of a mustard gas attack, but it works for me. File this alongside the R2-D2 beanie…
Sure, automated fortune tellers aren’t new, but Bandai’s new Mirai Scope may just be the first personal Zoltar you can fit in your pocket. It even comes with a hint of scientific mumbojumbo, since it asks you fifty questions about your life to assess your personality digitally. Once it’s singled out your type from the…
Giz reader Ed Hernández is at it again with his wireless audio iPod modifications. This time he hacked a fifth generation 30GB iPod video to include a Bluetooth module for audio output but, since the 30GB model is so thin, Ed had to do extra hacking. He told us his shopping list and some impressions,…
The Electroscape fireplace from Platonics has a remote-controlled LED lighting system built in. Ahh—nothing warms you up on a frosty 21st Century morn better than some funky LED lights that you can mix, from single color to multicolored, from the cozy comfort of your armchair. You can even specify what arty “fire” objects are displayed…
Also known as the 3rd Space Vest, the Force Feedback gaming vest from TMgames is filled with compressed air pouches in order for you to feel the pain when you’re hooked up to your console and having your butt kicked by scary aliens. Compatible with around a dozen games, including Call of Duty, Doom 3,…
We like our switches switches switches here in Gizmodo, but this Jesuswitch is just wrong wrong wrong. WRONG. Blame my catholic upbringing, but I would stay in the room in the dark for fear of turning the light on. [Flickr via Digg] https://gizmodo.com/digital-messaging-light-switch-cover-the-first-of-2008s-339418
On restless nights you may have found yourself asking the question, “Why isn’t there a finger-mounted, wireless mouse?” Well, put your woes aside, as the loonies great chaps at Brando were thinking the same thing, hence the Wireless Finger Mouse. As you may have guessed, the mouse is finger mounted, specifically to your index digit,…
Molly porkshanks Friedrich is the creator of these retrofuture headphones, made from an old-ass headset found in a thrift store, and some Panasonic cans that she bought on Amazon for a buck. What is cool about them—apart from the fact that they work a treat with MP3 players—is that Molly has not over-egged the Steampunk…
Hammerite’s new Metalmaster system speeds up the whole process of painting metal stuff by spraying all sides of an object at the same time. You just clip the gun to the object with a wire, and electrostatic charging means that the thing you’re painting actually attracts the paint particles. This means no brush marks, as…
Yesterday’s matte black limited-edition DS has been superseded by a Louie Vouie-esque design from cult Japanese fashion line Bathing Ape. Available in either white or a rather dingy gold, the case is stamped with Mario and Bape faces, with the Mario star thrown in for good measure. Available in Japan from April 1, expect this…